A huge €155 million project to replace lifts at the iconic Les Grands Montets ski area above Argentière in the Chamonix Valley has been announced, nearly six years after a fire destroyed several key lifts.
After a year of studies, fine-tuning, and preparatory work, the plans were announced at the Mountain Planet 2024 trade show currently underway in Grenoble with the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc awarding a €107.6m contract to Doppelmayr France to replace the two sections of cable cars destroyed in the 2018 fire, as well as the reconstruction and redevelopment of the infrastructure at the summit station of the Aiguille of the Grands Montets.
The reconstruction of the two sections of formerly cable car lifts is an opportunity for the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc to modernize access to the Aiguille des Grands Montets and offer future passengers a comfortable journey.
Thus, the first section from Argentière to Lognan will be equipped with a state-of-the-art monocable gondola consisting of 10-seat cabins. The second section of the route from Lognan to the Aiguille des Grands Montets will be equipped with a detachable 3S cable car.
This technology is specially designed to overcome the topographical challenges and extreme weather conditions of high mountains. The cabins will offer skiers and tourists 24 seats facing the majestic panorama of the Grands Montets site, Doppelmayr say.
A stylish design in harmony with the mountain is a big part of the project and a 20-metre cube, integrated into the slope (pictured top), echoing the perfect geometry of pyrite should be a stunning sight.
"This crystal marks the end of the mechanical journey and the sublime beginning of the routes leading to the summit of the Aiguille des Grands Montets with humility, a privileged place for the Chamonix valley and all the peaks overlooking it. Through its architecture, this project aims to requalify the industrial site into a sustainable one and change the perception of ski lifts by transforming passenger transport into a journey," a Doppelmayr media statement enthuses.
To align with the overall project concept, the lower lift stations will also be adorned with walls of crystalline glass
Work on the project will be completed with minimal environmental impact and avoid helicopter use. Two material cable cars (blondins), each with a capacity of 10 tons, will transport all materials and equipment from Argentière to the various construction sites with a service cable car created foir workers too, specially designed for the project (from the top of the Herse chairlift to the summit at 3,300 m).
These facilities will be dismantled as soon as the permanent installations are put into service - the expected date of which was not part of the project announcement.